Elizabeth was just getting
accustomed to her new school where she had no friends when one of her
teachers offers her a job as a page in a repository that lends out
objects like a library lends out books. Hidden in the basement of the
repository is the Grimm Collection, where the objects in question are
the magical ones from fairy tales like seven league boots, Snow White's
stepmother's mirror, and a mermaid comb that makes your hair look
awesome. Some of these precious magical items have been disappearing
from the Grimm Collection, and when Elizabeth and her fellow pages get
mixed up in the danger, it's up to them to find the items and return
them safely to the repository.
I absolutely adored this book. It
was a completely refreshing take on the fairy tales of old but had a
plot that was completely its own and not a retelling of one we know
well. Don't get me wrong, I have a very soft spot for fairy-tale
retellings, but the originality in this novel was off the charts. The
references to various fairy tales and mythologies were incredibly
diverse and incorporated into the story very well, and the fantasy and
reality parts of the novel meshed comfortably, if you know what I mean.
If you don't then think about it and get back to me.
The
situations that Shulman put her characters into were utterly hysterical.
At some point while reading I looked up and said out loud what was
going on and realized exactly how crazy I sounded, but that only made me
love it more. The whole idea that this book is based on is so different
and unique that the characters never end up in cliche predictable
situations. One more thing that I enjoyed was how Elizabeth was no one
special. It sounds weird to say that, but having an ordinary girl as the
main character was truly refreshing in a world where every teen novel
has a hero/heroine who is special because of who or what they are.
Elizabeth is a normal girl who finds herself in extraordinary situations
and manages to keep her head on straight, and I commend her for that.
5 stars
Elizabeth has a new job
at an unusual library - a lending library of objects, not books. In a
secret room in the basement lies the Grimm Collection. That's where the
librarians lock away powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm
fairy tales; seven-league boots, a table that produces a feast at the
blink of an eye, Snow White's stepmother's sinister mirror that talks in
riddles.
When the magical objects start to disappear, Elizabeth
embarks on a dangerous quest to catch the thief before she can be
accused of the crime or captured by the thief.
Polly Shulman has
created a contemporary fantasy with a fascinating setting and premise,
starring an ordinary girl whose after-school job is far from ordinary
and leads to a world of excitement, romance and magical intrigue.
Brianna
is the girl everyone wants to be or be with, and Sara is her best
friend. Sara is perfectly fine with living in Brianna's shadow, even
though Brianna's new boyfriend is Ryan, Sara's crush. Though Sara tries
really hard not to like Ryan, everything gets way worse when they kiss
one night after a party. Sara, who has never been anything but loyal to
Brianna, is wracked with guilt for what she did and what she wants, but
can't help herself from getting closer to Ryan. Yes, it's another one of
these stories, but this one is pretty good.
I've read these
stories before, and chances are if you're reading this review that you
have too. There was no unique twist that made this one completely
different from any other book like it, unless you count Sara's
selflessness, which I don't since it wasn't important enough to make
this book stand out from the other "I'm in love with my best friend's
boyfriend" books. However, this book was written well and it really
showed all sides of the story well. Somehow I didn't hate Sara, Brianna,
or Ryan when I finished the book because Scott managed to show each
character perfectly. Brianna was just mean enough that you cheer Sara
and Ryan on, but just pitiable enough that you don't consider her a
horrible person. I suppose Ryan would be the one to blame but I felt
like he was a victim just as much as the other two were.
4.0 stars. Not out-of-this-world incredible, but definitely enjoyable.
Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don’t like your best friend’s boyfriend.
Sarah
has had a crush on Ryan for years. He’s easy to talk to, supersmart,
and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he’s paying extra
attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things:
Ryan is Brianna’s boyfriend, and Brianna is Sarah’s best friend.
Sarah
forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like
him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants
is to hurt her best friend. But when she’s thrown together with Ryan one
night, something happens. It’s wonderful... and awful.
Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can’t stop herself from wanting more...
In
Kansas during the Dust Bowl, Callie LeRoux is off on an adventure to
save her kidnapped mother and long-lost father. She knows her parents
are in California so along with Jack, a sweet teenage hobo, she sets off
to find her parents and discover the truth about her fairy father and
who she really is.
The beginning of the novel was intriguing and
got me excited for what was to come. Sadly, the rest of the book did
not live up to the beginning. Once Callie and Jack set out, the initial
mystery of what was to come was gone and left me trudging through the
rest of the book.
I was unsure what to make of this book. On the
one hand, it's yet another fairy book, and unlike witches, vampires, and
werewolves, I find fairy fantasy extremely tedious and repetitive.
Don't get me wrong, the other stuff can be repetitive too, just for some
reason I feel like every single fairy book has the same plot. There's
usually a girl who is half human and half fairy princess who must set
out on an adventure through Fairyland with a cute guy and in the end she
learns that fairies can't be trusted. The sad part is, even if a fairy
book didn't have that plot, I get so bored with them that it probably
wouldn't matter to me. I was hoping that the unique setting (Dust Bowl
era) would redeem this one, because I love when fantasy plots are
plopped into different time periods (like steampunk), but it only did
enough to pull me through to the end.
I wish I could analyze more
details of this novel for you, but since I've already forgotten most of
it, I am forced to bid you an early adieu.
2.9 stars
Callie LeRoux lives in
Slow Run, Kansas, helping her mother run their small hotel and trying
not to think about the father she’s never met. Lately all of her energy
is spent battling the constant storms plaguing the Dust Bowl and their
effects on her health. Callie is left alone when her mother goes missing
in a dust storm. Her only hope comes from a mysterious man offering a
few clues about her destiny and the path she must take to find her
parents in “the golden hills of the west”: California.
Along the
way she meets Jack, a young hobo boy who is happy to keep her
company—there are dangerous, desperate people at every turn. And there’s
also an otherworldly threat to Callie. Warring fae factions, attached
to the creative communities of American society, are very much aware of
the role this half-mortal, half-fae teenage girl plays in their fate.
In
this sci-fi adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion, the human race is
still reeling from scientific experiments gone wrong and is now being
led by the Luddite nobility. Years before the events of this novel, some
ambitious scientists found a way to manipulate DNA to make better
humans. However, when the offspring of these people were all born with
severe mental retardation, called the Reduction, it appeared to be the
end of the human race until the Luddites, a strict religious minority
who had been in hiding, came out and became the new majority. Elliot,
our protagonist, has been managing her Luddite family's estate since the
death of her mother four years prior, while her father and sister spend
the family's money with no qualms about their impending poverty. When
Elliot is approached by a post-reductionist fleet, the mentally capable
children of the reduced, about renting property from her to build a
boat, she grabs at the opportunity to make a little more money to help
her family and those living on their property survive, not knowing that
part of this fleet is Captain Malakai Wentforth, the boy who she refused
to run away with after her mother's death.
This book was
absolutely incredible. Whether you're a Jane Austen fan, a sci-fi fan,
or neither, you should read this book anyway because it was so amazing
(but if you are either or both of those you'll find it all the more
entertaining). The science fiction part of the novel was relatively tame
but still strong enough to keep the part of me that longs for the
extraordinary happy.
Not only was the story and how Jane Austen's
tale of long-lost love was adapted fascinating, but the way the story
was written and told was exceptional as well. I thought the pace was
perfect. Persuasion is not a particularly climactic tale, but
Peterfreund managed to space out little tidbits of information to shock
the reader just enough so that you absolutely have to continue reading.
What I loved most though were the personalities of the characters.
Almost every one was round, the heroes, villains, and un-labelable, and
acted as a real person would. All in all, this was a phenomenal book and
if you haven't read it yet, you're missing out.
5 stars.
It's been several
generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction,
decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed
most technology.
Elliot North has always known her place in this
world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood
sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over
love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of
Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's
estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud
Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain
Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot
wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to
show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.
But
Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could
change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's
faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast
her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him
forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen's Persuasion, For Darkness Shows the Stars is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.
Please note that this review contains spoilers for the first two books in this series, Possession and Surrender.
In
the finale to one of the most confusing series ever, the rebellion is
finally ready to take action and overthrow the mind-controlling
government once and for all. The supernaturally gifted teenagers leading
the rebellion are faced with the hardest decisions they've ever had to
make, involving war, the moralities of their powers, and their hearts.
Vi chose Jag already so that love triangle is over, but Zenn is still in
love with Vi and has to take orders from the boy she loves. As the
rebellion comes to a climax, loyalties are tested and there is too much
flip-flopping between sides for me to recount it here.
This book
was way too long. In some cases I'm thrilled when the final book of a
series is 464 pages long, and when I'm done I'm salivating for more, but
in this case it was just too much. Halfway through I was so bored but
yet desperate to know the end that I read the last chapter before
returning to where I was up to. The ending was just enough motivation to
get me through, as it finished the series off on the right note, though
I will warn prospective readers that it was bittersweet. If you're
looking for rainbows and unicorns you should put this book down.
There
were so many gifts and talents and combinations of them amongst the
characters that I lost track of who could do what pretty quickly. The
fact that nothing was ever explained did not help with this confusion,
and after a while I just assumed that everyone could do everything
because it was so misleading. I also didn't understand half of what was
happening when each character used their powers because I was so unsure
of what their powers actually were.
Before I go, I have a
question to ask you which has been bothering me. If there are adults
involved in the rebellion, why is Jag, a teenage boy, the leader? He's
been the leader for years which means he probably took over when he was
around 14 or 15, and if I was part of this rebellion there is absolutely
no way I would trust a boy in the middle of puberty. Why did the adults
listen to him in the first place? Did he use his voice on them? Because
that's a very long ruse to keep up if he's going to keep using his
voice to get them to listen to him, and they'd have probably figured it
out eventually. For now I will be content that the answer is that the
author wanted Vi's love interest to be the leader of the rebellion, but
if anyone has a better answer please supply it.
3. 6 stars
seduced by power,
broken by control,
and consumed by love...
Vi
has made her choice between Jag and Zenn, and the Resistance may have
suffered for it. But with the Thinkers as strong as ever, the rebels
still have a job to do. Vi knows better than anyone that there's more at
stake than a few broken hearts.
But there is a traitor among
them...and the choices he makes could lead to the total destruction of
everything Vi has fought for.
Vi, Jag, and Zenn must set their
problems aside for the Resistance to have any hope of ending the
Thinkers' reign. Their success means everything...and their failure
means death
